Swami Vivekananda Jayanti

Every January, schools, colleges and youth clubs across India remember one of the country’s best known monks. This day is Swami Vivekananda Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The word “Jayanti” simply means the birthday of a great person. On 12 January, India also marks the same day as National Youth Day.

In this guide, we explain who Swami Vivekananda was and why his birthday has two dates. We also cover how people celebrate the day. Our older post on this topic was short, so we have checked every fact and added much more detail.

What Is Swami Vivekananda Jayanti?

Swami Vivekananda Jayanti honours the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. He was a Hindu monk, thinker and teacher who lived from 1863 to 1902. He was the chief disciple of the saint Ramakrishna. He took the ideas of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world, and he started the Ramakrishna Mission to serve the poor.

It is not a festival in the usual sense, with fireworks or feasts. It is a day of respect and learning. People read his words, hold talks and do service work in his memory.

Why Does the Day Have Two Dates?

12 January: National Youth Day

Swami Vivekananda was born on 12 January 1863. In 1984, the Government of India decided to observe his birthday as National Youth Day every year. The first celebration took place in 1985. The government said his ideas could inspire young Indians.

The next National Youth Day falls on Tuesday, 12 January 2027. Read more about the day in our post on National Youth Day.

The Hindu Calendar Date

By the Hindu calendar, he was born on Pausha Krishna Saptami. This means the seventh day of the waning moon in the month of Pausha. Because the Hindu calendar follows the moon, this date moves every year. It usually falls in January.

Centres of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission mark this calendar date in a traditional way. Our older post said the date falls between January and February. In fact, it generally lands in January.

Who Was Swami Vivekananda?

Early Life in Calcutta

Swami Vivekananda’s birth name was Narendranath Datta. Friends called him Narendra or Naren. He was born in Calcutta, now Kolkata, at his family home on Gourmohan Mukherjee Street. It was the day of the Makar Sankranti festival.

His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a lawyer at the Calcutta High Court. His mother, Bhubaneswari Devi, was a deeply religious woman. His father’s sharp, logical mind and his mother’s faith both shaped him.

As a boy, Narendra was naughty and full of energy. He also loved to sit quietly before images of gods like Shiva, Rama and Hanuman. He was a bright student and a keen reader. He studied at Scottish Church College in Calcutta. Its principal, William Hastie, once wrote, “Narendra is really a genius.”

Meeting His Guru, Ramakrishna

Narendra first met Ramakrishna in 1881, when he was about 18. Ramakrishna was a priest at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple near Calcutta. At first, Narendra did not accept him as his teacher and argued with his ideas. Still, he kept going back to meet him.

In 1884, his father died suddenly. The family lost its money, and Narendra struggled to find work. In these hard years, Ramakrishna became the centre of his spiritual life. After Ramakrishna died in 1886, Narendra and other young disciples became monks.

Shortly before his death, Ramakrishna gave ochre robes to these young men and asked Narendra to look after them. On the night of 24 December 1886, they took their first monastic vows. They then set up their first monastery at Baranagore, near Calcutta.

A Wandering Monk

In 1888, Narendra set out as a wandering monk. He carried only a water pot, a staff and two books: the Bhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ. For five years, he travelled across India on foot and by train, living on alms.

He met kings and scholars, but also poor farmers and workers. He stayed with Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Seeing the poverty of ordinary people moved him deeply. He decided to work to lift up the nation.

Raja Ajit Singh of Khetri, his friend and follower, suggested the name “Vivekananda”. It joins two Sanskrit words, viveka and ananda. Together they mean “the joy of wise judgement”.

The Famous Chicago Speech

In 1893, he sailed to the United States. The Parliament of the World’s Religions opened in Chicago on 11 September 1893. Swami Vivekananda spoke for India and Hinduism.

He began his speech with the words “Sisters and brothers of America!” The crowd of about seven thousand people stood and clapped for two minutes. He spoke about tolerance and the acceptance of all faiths. He compared different religions to rivers that flow from different places but meet in the same sea.

An American newspaper called him “an orator by divine right”. After this, he lectured across the United States and Britain for several years. He set up the Vedanta Society of New York in 1894. Today, 11 September is also observed by some as World Brotherhood Day, in memory of that speech.

The Ramakrishna Mission and Belur Math

He returned to India in January 1897. On 1 May 1897, in Calcutta, he founded the Ramakrishna Mission. Its work is based on Karma Yoga, which means selfless work done as worship. The Mission runs hospitals, schools and relief work during disasters.

He also founded two more monasteries, at Mayavati in the Himalayas and in Madras, now Chennai. Two journals were started too: Prabuddha Bharata in English and Udbodhan in Bengali. The Mission was formally registered as a society in 1909.

He also set up Belur Math on the west bank of the Hooghly River. It is the headquarters of both the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. Its temple design mixes Hindu, Buddhist and Christian styles as a sign of unity among religions. See our post on Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission.

His Final Years

Swami Vivekananda suffered from asthma, diabetes and poor sleep in his last years. In his final months, he made pilgrimages to Bodh Gaya and Varanasi. On 4 July 1902, he died at Belur Math while meditating. He was only 39 years old.

How Swami Vivekananda Jayanti Is Celebrated

On 12 January, schools and colleges all over India hold events for National Youth Day. Common activities include:

• Processions and speeches about his life and ideas.
• Youth meetings and seminars.
• Yoga sessions.
• Essay writing, speech and recitation contests.
• Sports events.

On the Hindu calendar date, Ramakrishna Math and Mission centres hold a traditional celebration. It includes a morning arati, special worship, a fire ritual called homa, meditation, devotional songs, religious talks and an evening arati. Many people also do service work, such as helping at camps for the poor.

Some years bring bigger events. In 2013, India marked his 150th birth anniversary with programmes at home and abroad. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports led the official celebrations that year.

Simple Lessons From His Life

• Respect all faiths. His Chicago speech asked people to accept every religion as a path to the same truth.
• Serve the poor. He told his fellow monks to go door to door among the poor and teach them.
• Work without selfishness. Karma Yoga teaches that honest work for others is a form of prayer.
• Train the mind. His book Raja Yoga helped people in the West understand yoga and meditation.

He made yoga known far beyond India. Learn how that story grew in our post on how yoga became a global movement from India.

His ideas also inspired others to build for the future. On his ship to America in 1893, he met the industrialist Jamsetji Tata. He encouraged Tata to set up an institute for research and education. Years later, Tata asked him to lead his science institute, but Swami Vivekananda said no, citing his spiritual work. His disciple, Sister Nivedita, followed him to India. She gave the rest of her life to educating Indian women and to the cause of India’s freedom.

What We Changed From the Old Post

• We fixed the spelling “Ramkrishna Mission”. The correct name is Ramakrishna Mission.
• The old post said the Hindu calendar date falls between January and February. It is Pausha Krishna Saptami, which generally falls in January.
• We added that National Youth Day was declared in 1984 and first observed in 1985.
• We removed the vague line that government and private sectors “make contributions to this festival”, and described the real ways people mark the day.
• We added his life story, the Chicago speech, the founding of the Ramakrishna Mission and Belur Math, and his key ideas.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Swami Vivekananda Jayanti?

It is marked on 12 January every year as National Youth Day. Ramakrishna Math centres also mark his birthday on the Hindu calendar date, Pausha Krishna Saptami.

Why is his birthday called National Youth Day?

In 1984, the Government of India chose his birthday as National Youth Day because his ideas can inspire young people.

What was Swami Vivekananda’s real name?

His birth name was Narendranath Datta.

When did he found the Ramakrishna Mission?

He founded it on 1 May 1897 in Calcutta, now Kolkata.